Brendan Rodgers maintains he was ‘speaking honestly’ after being fined £8,000 by the FA for comments he made on Boxing Day about referee Lee Mason.

Liverpool’s manager was warned by the FA about his future conduct after he refused to contest the charge sanctioned in the wake of a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City; Rodgers described the officials’ display as ‘horrendous’ and queried the choice of Mason, from Bolton, as referee.

A statement from the FA read: 'Rodgers was charged for a breach of FA Rule E3 in that his post-match comments following Liverpool’s game at Manchester City on 26 December 2013 constituted improper conduct in that they called into question the integrity of the match referee, and/or implied that the match referee was motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute; and/or amounted to a failure to act in the best interests of the game.

Rodgers, who previously had an unblemished disciplinary record, insists the points he made in his criticism were ‘factual ones’.

Feeling down: Rodgers was unhappy with some of the decisions made during the game against City

With
Liverpool pushing for a top-four spot —they welcome Daniel Sturridge
back after a nine-game absence against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium
tomorrow — Rodgers did not want to fight the charge for fear of it
proving a distraction, but he intends to speak with the FA on the matter
in the future.

‘What I was saying was the logical look at the appointment,’ he said.

‘Lee
Mason is a good guy. I have always supported referees. I was
disappointed after the game but all I was doing was speaking honestly.’